It was hard to tell how long they had been flying, one moment it felt only like a few minutes and the next it felt like hours. Hiccup lay flat on Toothless' back, staring blankly at the clouds above him while his fingers traced absentminded circles on his best friends smooth scales. The air was chilly against his cheeks where his tears had dried, and even though his mind was whirling, unable to come on terms with what had happened, he could cry no more. He felt exhausted and empty, utterly empty.
To see Lilly this ruthless shook him deeper than he could have ever imagined and he strained his mind for what he could have missed. For red flags that should have screamed at him, for a change in her demeanor. But he failed to do so, too caught up in his own grief for his father to notice and now it was too late.
Realization hit him hard. His chest constricted painfully as he recalled every word Lilly said to him, each like an arrow to his heart and he clutched his fist hard around the pendant that was still hidden away in his right hand.
Toothless warbled in a way that Hiccup knew meant he needed to rest and he gave himself a little shake, biting back a hiss of pain as he sat up. His skin burned beneath the bandages. "I know bud, I'm feeling it too. We need to find land." Toothless made a sound of approval.
Hiccup scanned the horizon, but he could make nothing out. He saw only that same cold ocean, sealed off by distant clouds. From what he could tell, they were quite far south from dragon hunter island by now, but he wouldn't bet on it, not even for a tiny junk of scrap metal. Just then, something caught his eye.
A sliver of land crushed between the greys of the ocean and sky, encircled by a necklace of white foam. The outline of an island. "There bud, see? Let's have a look if we can make camp there." He spurred Toothless on and soon enough they landed ashore a rather rocky island that was void of trees.
They found shelter under a particularly large rock, hollowed out from years of being at mercy of the currents, where Hiccup started a small fire and settled back against Toothless' back who curled his tail around him. He reached for his saddlebag to retrieve his waterskin but instead his fingers brushed something else. Hiccup frowned as he pulled the object out. Oh.
He gulped, letting his fingers run over the artful engravings and fought against the urge to let fresh tears spill over as memories of him and Lilly in Viggo's office ghosted through his mind.
"I should probably return this to Viggo..." he held the Dragon-Eye up. Toothless huffed. "Yeah, you're right...I don't feel like facing him too...or anyone..." He bit down hard on his lower lip, throat closing up as desperation clutched his heart in an iron grip. "Oh Toothless...what am I supposed to do...?"
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Viggo pushed the door open without knocking. Though the townspeople wanted to see him, throwing question after question at him regarding the dragon's attack, he decided his sister needed him more and there was a heavy need to talk. Lilly hadn't left her room for hours and now that Viggo entered, he found her curled into a ball on her bed, just as he left her. Hope was at her side, her tail wrapped protectively around Lilly's middle.
Viggo sighed deeply as he walked over to her, placing a bowl of soup on her bedside table. He hadn't managed to get anything out of her so far, but it didn't take much for him to put two and two together. He knew Lilly was behind the deadly attack and although it would take him a lot of effort to put his people's minds at piece again, Viggo couldn't help to hint of pride blossoming in his chest at his sister's ruthlessness. If he wasn't bound to his council's decision, he would have done the same. Still he couldn't possibly let Lilly know of that fact, for her own sake.
"Why did you do it?" he asked softly as he sat down at the edge of her bed. "Why did you send the Singetails?"
Lilly sniveled, her knuckles turning white where she clutched her pillow and refused to look at him. "You know why."
YOU ARE READING
My little Flower (HiccupxOC, part 1 of Grimborn Family AU)
Fanfiction"Grimborn." She let the name roll from her tongue, her forehead creased into a frown. "Who is that?" Raised by dragons from an early age, Lilly had no contact to another human being for thirteen years. Being a wide eyed innocent she has no idea of...
